One object of the present invention is to provide a food dicer, such as a manual food dicer enabling vegetables to be cut into sticks or cubes.
The food dicer can be used at home but is above all intended for cooking professionals.
Such a food dicer, which is conventionally referred to as a “mandoline”, preferably complies with a series of requirements specific to this field of use, given in particular the agitation that generally reigns in kitchens when preparing dishes.
It preferably allows a whole variety of vegetables to be cut very rapidly.
It is also preferred that the dicer does not expose users to the risk of cutting themselves.
In addition, it preferably enable the cutting features to be selectively and rapidly changed without requiring any complex dismantling.
It also be preferred that the dicer is easily and correctly cleanable without any risk of bacteria building up due to inaccessible food residues.
A food dicer of the present invention can meet some or all of these requirements.
Such a food dicer substantially may comprise a frame equipped with a cutting blade cross-mounted opposite a cut vegetable slot and two parallel lateral columns defining two guiding rails as well as a carriage movable in two-way translation along these rails and a preferably removable longitudinal cutting knife equipped with a set of equidistant triangular blades located opposite the cross blade, in line with the cut vegetable slot and substantially perpendicular to this blade.
According to the present invention, the carriage firstly includes a guide chamber formed by an substantially rectangular guiding plate equipped with a circular median opening and extending around this opening by a cylindrical wall delimiting at its internal part a chamber for receiving the vegetables to be cut, and secondly of a pusher rotatably mobile about the cylindrical wall of the guide chamber into which it is fitted and capable of being held by the user so as to move the carriage in a two-way movement along the guiding rails while constantly exerting pressure on the vegetables contained in the receiving chamber so as to apply them against the cross cutting blade and to enable them to be cut by this blade.
The two-way translation of the carriage along the guiding rails is divided into a series of active phases during which the vegetables are cut by the blades and of ineffective carriage return phases.
It will be understood that, within the scope of the present invention, the term “vegetables” is considered in the broad sense of the word and the cut vegetables may not only be any type of vegetables per se (potatoes, cucumber, carrots, etc.) but also fruits or other foodstuffs that can be cut.
On the whole, users are satisfied with a manual food dicer of this type which is described in the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,622 B2 as an example.
It is advantageously equipped with a mechanism for setting the height of cut and with several removable and interchangeable cross blades capable of being selectively positioned on the frame, in particular with blades equipped with straight cutting edges and blades equipped with serrated cutting edges so as to obtain smooth or grooved slices.
The possibility of making the pusher rotate about the cylindrical wall of the guide chamber during the two-way translation motion of the carriage further enables a “wafer”-type cut to be obtained.
Moreover, the longitudinal cutting knife enables the vegetables to be cut into sticks.
In addition, it is advantageous to equip the food dicer with several longitudinal cutting knives that differ by the distance between the triangular blades so as to vary the width of these sticks.
It shall however be noted that during the return phases of the carriage, the triangular blades of the longitudinal cutting knife, the end of which juts out slightly over the frame, damage the vegetables to be cut that are present in the receiving chamber.
Moreover, such a food dicer does not enable vegetables to be cut into cubes.
An object of the present invention is to provide a food dicer capable of remedying these disadvantages, while keeping the advantages inherent in the known manual food dicer described above.
For this purpose, an object is to provide a food dicer of the abovementioned type characterized in that the longitudinal cutting knife cooperates with a positioning mechanism enabling it to be elastically mounted on either side of the frame between firstly a working position in which the triangular blades clearly jut out over the upper surface of the frame so as to enable the vegetables to be cut into sticks or cubes during the active phases and towards which the longitudinal cutting knife automatically returns in the absence of any external stress exerted thereon, and secondly a retracted position in which the triangular blades are retracted into the cut vegetable slot.
The translation of the carriage during the return phases automatically causes the longitudinal cutting knife to move into retracted position.
Therefore, the food dicer conforming to the present invention differs by the particular mounting of the longitudinal cutting knife that enables the triangular blades of this knife to clearly jut out over the frame during the active phases of the two-way translation of the carriage to enable a satisfying cut of the vegetables, but to be retracted into the cut vegetable slot during the carriage return phases so as to avoid any damage of the vegetables contained in the receiving chamber.
Moreover, a ninety-degree rotation of the pusher about the cylindrical wall of the guide chamber during each of the phases of the two-way translation motion of the carriage enables cube cuts to be obtained, which was not possible with the abovementioned known manual food dicer.
The manual food dicer forming an object of the present invention may advantageously rest on at least one preferably folding stand.
As an example, the frame may advantageously be mounted onto two folding trapezoidal stands, i.e. a front stand and a rear stand, substantially in the form of a U.
The front stand enables the front of the frame to be raised.
The rear stand enables the food dicer to be used on a recipient such as a basin by using it as support; such support is stable and consequently secures the use of the food dicer.
In addition, the food dicer being supported by the front stand and the rear stand enables a more comfortable working angle to be obtained.
It shall further be noted that the food dicer conforming to the present invention is generally equipped with a series of longitudinal cutting knives the blades of which are more or less significantly distanced so as to obtain sticks or cubes of different sizes.
According to a preferred characteristic of the present invention, the mechanism for positioning the longitudinal cutting knife are symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis of the frame and principally comprise two receiving slides for receiving this knife and two activating cams.
These elements are respectively located opposite one another on either side of the frame.
The receiving slides are mounted movable in translation along the lateral columns of the frame, substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof and are respectively subjected to the action of a return spring.
The two activating cams are mounted movable in rotation on the lateral columns of the frame, about a cross pin; they engage with an associated receiving slide and cooperate with the guide chamber to enable the longitudinal cutting knife to move between the working position and the retracted position during the two-way translation of the carriage.
Each of the receiving slides is preferably mounted in a slot pierced in one of the lateral columns of the frame in which it can move in translation.
Thus, these slides comprise, on either side of this slot, firstly an internal part equipped with devices for holding the longitudinal cutting knife, and secondly an external part equipped with a lug whereby it engages with the return spring. These slots can advantageously be covered, on their external face, by a cover defining a housing for the external part of the receiving slide and for the return spring.
According to another characteristic of the present invention, the devices for holding the longitudinal cutting knife firstly includes bosses and/or recesses provided on the internal face of the internal part of the receiving slides and cooperating with corresponding recesses and/or bosses provided on the lateral faces located opposite the longitudinal cutting knife, and secondly of rotating strips enabling this knife to be blocked at its lower face.
It is advantageous for these bosses and recesses to be unsymmetrical on either side of the frame so as to ensure that the longitudinal cutting knife is always mounted in the right direction.
The rotation of the rotating strips enables this knife to be blocked on the frame or to be extracted therefrom.
According to a preferred characteristic of the present invention, each of the activating cams comprises a main sector rotatably mobile along the internal face of the associated lateral column extending outwards by a pivot moving in a curved oblong orifice pierced in this column and jutting out over the external face thereof.
This pivot engages with an operational upper face of the external part of the associated receiving slide to enable the longitudinal cutting knife to move towards the retracted position.
To control this movement, the main sector of each of the activating cams advantageously comprises an operating ramp engaging with the guide chamber during the return phases of the carriage.
Given this configuration and starting from the working position, during a return phase of the carriage, the front edge of the guiding plate of the guide chamber engages with the operating ramp of the activating cams and causes these cams to rotate about their axis.
This rotation causes the pivots to move in the curved oblong orifices and consequently to move towards the arm of the receiving slides, against the force of the return springs.
The longitudinal cutting knife is thus moved into retracted position and remains in that position while the guiding plate of the guide chamber is situated in line with the activating cams.
At the end of the carriage return phase, the rear edge of the guiding plate of the guide chamber moves beyond the activating cams and thus releases them.
The return springs then exert an upwards force on the lugs to move the receiving slides and consequently the pivots of the activating cams in the curved oblong orifices, which automatically causes these cams to rotate.
The longitudinal cutting knife is thus moved into working position and remains in that position during the next active phase of the carriage motion to enable an efficient cut of the vegetables, until, at the start of the subsequent carriage return phase, the front edge of the guiding plate of the guide chamber again engages with the operating ramp of the activating cams and so on and so forth.
It shall be noted that, within the scope of the present description, the terms “high” and “low” refer to a food dicer standing on a flat surface, in operating position.
According to another characteristic of the present invention, the cylindrical wall of the guide chamber extends beyond the guiding plate by a flange equipped with a series of recesses positioned so as to enable the triangular blades of the longitudinal cutting knife to pass during the active phases of the two-way translation of the carriage.
Corresponding grooves can also be provided on the lower face of the guiding plate.
It shall be noted that the position of these recesses and grooves is chosen so as to enable all the blades of the different longitudinal cutting knives equipping the manual food dicer conforming to the present invention to pass.
According to another characteristic of the present invention, the upper part of the frame has a non-stick coating improving the sliding of the vegetables to be cut.
Preferably, this coating does not extend over the entire width of the frame, but only to its median part so as to enable vegetables to be automatically centred during the two-way motion of the carriage along the frame.